Click to see photos and videos, and to hear comments from Coach Andy Fields.
MAUSTON, Wis.---A new group of Escanaba Eskymos are looking to continue the long tradition of girls softball as the 2026 season gets off to a slow start thanks to Old Man Winter. The Eskymos were finally able to get on the field this weekend at the Wisconsin Dells tournament, and the girls came home with two wins in their three games.
The Eskymos lost to Merrill, 6-3, on Friday, and then on Saturday, the Eskymos beat Clintonville, 6-3, and Campbellsport, 3-2. Coupled with two wins at the Superior Dome tournament in March, the Eskymos are off to a 4-2 start.
Escanaba Manager Andy Fields says the goals are simple this time of year.
“Get everybody in,” he said on Saturday. “The last game, we were able to get every girl in, and every girl contributed. Ultimately, that's what you want. Early in the season, you're kind of feeling out your players. I have faith in all my players.”
Escanaba has had to reload before.
Pitcher Gabi Salo dominated the competition and brought the Eskymos to the finals at Michigan State University, she graduated and went to pitch for the Wisconsin Badgers. That left the Eskymos without their star, but not long later, Grayson LaMarche showed up in the circle. She had four great years, two of them ending in the state Final Four.
Now, LaMarche is pitching for the University of Michigan.
So, it's time for the new group of Eskymo pitchers to take over, led by senior Landry Bray but also includes several sophomores. In Saturday's 6-3 win over Clintonville, Carysn Buckley pitched the first four innings to earn the win.
Bella Noblet pitched a scoreless fifth inning, and then when she walked two batters in the sixth inning, Fields brought in Emma Parlato to pitch. She struck out three straight batters and added two more strikeouts in a lockdown seventh inning for the save.
“Both of my sophomore pitchers did a really good job today,” Fields said. “They were both really nervous. I don't think either of them thought they were going to pitch this weekend. They performed really well. We got the win today. It wasn't pretty. But a win is a a win and that's what's important.”
Buckley had two hits, Bray had an RBI double in the first inning, Abby Derkos contributed a triple, and Mary Kate Tourangeau smacked a triple that brought home Mara Anderson to make it 2-0.
Now, speaking of Tourangeau, that triple came on the heels of her biggest Eskymo hit in Friday's loss to Merrill. In that game, the Eskymos were overwhelmed at times by Blue Jays pitcher Mackenzie Herdt. She struck out 17 Escanaba batters and her Merrill team had a 3-1 lead before Tourangeau keyed a rally. Derkos got a base hit and stole second, and then Tourangeau smoked a shot up the left-center field gap to the fence.
Tourangeau circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run, tying the game at 3-3.
”She needed a big confidence booster,” Fields said. “And that was one. She struggled with herself with her hitting early on this year. But, she's a really good hitter. We have faith in her. She's done a really good job this year.”
Unfortunately, Bray couldn't hold off the Blue Jays in the bottom of that inning, as Merrill scored three runs on one play. Kendell Klug's base hit with two men on, combined with two bad throws by the Eskymo defense, put Merrill up, 6-3. And the Eskymos could do nothing more with Herdt, who pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
“The girls didn't respond like they struck out 17 times,” Fields said. “They stayed loose throughout the game and they got better as the game went on. I just wish we would have had some better at-bats early on in the game. We probably could have wore her down a little bit more. She had a really good rise ball. She's one of the best pitchers we've seen down here.”
Saturday's second game, against Campbellsport, was played as rain descended on the complex. The Eskymos trailed. 2-1, going to the final inning, but rallied on a Chloe Dubord RBI single to tie the game. The Eskymos took advantage of two errors as Dubord stole second and came around to score the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, it got dicey when Bray walked two batters, putting the tying and winning runs on base. But Bray rared back and got a strikeout and a flyout to end the game with a 3-2 win, giving the Eskymos a 2-1 weekend.
So, where does Fields want to see improvement moving forward?
“It's the little things,” Fields said. “All of these girls that we have are really good softball players. But right now, it's communication. It's taking the extra base. It's NOT making a bad throw. It's just little things right now, and we're going to get those things corrected.”
